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Raiders of the Lost Ark (video game)
|genre = Action-adventure |modes = Single-player |platforms = Atari 2600 }} Raiders of the Lost Ark is an action-adventure game created for the Atari 2600 based on the movie of the same name (the first installment of the Indiana Jones series). The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw. Gameplay The player controls Indiana Jones as he searches for the lost Ark of the Covenant. The game requires the player to use two different controllers: controller 2 moves Jones and its button uses an item; controller 1 selects the item to use and its button drops the item. This control scheme anticipated later game controllers with more buttons and games where buttons would allow the player to switch items without interrupting gameplay. The video game is set in the city of Cairo in 1936, represented by an entrance room and a marketplace. From the entrance room, the player can blast a hole in the wall with a grenade and enter the Temple of the Ancients. Two paths await inside the Temple, both of which contain various dangers, after which the player will at last find the treasure room. Gold and artifacts can be picked up in the treasure room which will help the player later in the game. The player must cross a mesa, on the other side of which lies the Map Room where the location of the Lost Ark is revealed. South of the Map Room is a Thieves Den and a Black Market. The Black Market contains various figures, such as two sheikhs, a Tsetse fly and a lunatic, and items needed to win the game (most notably a shovel). After acquiring all needed items from the various rooms, the player returns to the mesa and jumps off using a parachute. The player goes inside the mesa, via a small hole at the end of a branch, and digs up the Ark, after dodging more thieves. Development The game began development in late 1981. In order to collect inspiration, Howard Scott Warshaw walked around the offices at Atari, Inc. wearing a fedora and cracking a bullwhip, which became an inside joke among those who worked at Atari at the time. "When I was coding [Raiders of the Lost Ark], I really tried to get into character", said Howard Scott Warshaw. "I wore the hat and had a real ten-foot-long leather bullwhip. Man, it was loud. Like a gunshot! I said it was for R&D – Research and Discipline. If people were snooping round the building, I'd sneak up behind them and crack that whip. They'd jump out of their suits and I'd be like, 'Hey, how ya doin'?"http://www.nowgamer.com/features/894737/the_making_of_raiders_of_the_lost_ark.html The packaging, manual, and advertising artwork was painted by Atari art director James Kelly. Reception Richard A. Edwards reviewed Raiders of the Lost Ark in The Space Gamer No. 61. Edwards commented that "Though the graphics are not great (but they are fairly good) and the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song has a note or two off-key, this is still the adventure cartridge of the year. Those gamers who prefer magic items, puzzles, and thoughtful play mixed with arcade movement should find Raiders well worth the price." Video Games in 1983 called Raiders of the Lost Ark "a more complex adventure game" than E.T., released a month later. The magazine noted that the documentation was incomplete and advised players to experiment with multiple ways to progress. Electronic Games stated that the game "doesn't quite live up to its inspiration ... does not excel in excitement," and was inferior to Pitfall!. References }} External links *[http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-raiders-of-the-lost-ark_7440.html Raiders of the Lost Ark] at Atari Mania *[http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=393 Raiders of the Lost Ark] at AtariAge *[http://onceuponatari.com/hsw_personal_pages/hswgmdir/hsw_games.html#raiders%20game Brief mention of Raiders on Howard Scott Warshaw's web page] Category:1982 video games Category:Action-adventure games Category:Atari games Category:Atari 2600 games Category:Atari 2600-only games Category:Indiana Jones video games * Category:Video games set in Egypt Category:Video games developed in the United States